Pierret Competition alto sax?

[elo]

Has anyone some information about this sax?

Pierret "Competition"

Thanks

[Fred]

I think the Competition is listed on saxpics site: www.saxpics.com

[elo]

Thanks,
What I need is some description of the sax. Is it a profesional sax? Is better than a super artist? newer? older?

Thanks
elo

[Farina_man]

Sorry to be so late to this topic. I've got one of these, fully overhauled, in silver plate, and it's a very nice sax. It is engraved Pierret "Artiste" Competition, and the word Competition is also inscribed on the crook. I don't have another Artist alto, but I do have an Artist tenor. I believe the Competition alto is rather better made and heavier (pro-rata) and therefore probably earlier than my Artist tenor. The tenor has no serial number, and, as I am not aware of any extant Pierret serial number lists, I can't make any judgement anyway as to age, but my guess, for what its worth, is 1940's for my Competition alto. Does it play as well as a Mk VI? No, in all conscience, but few things do, and you can get the Pierret for a small fraction of the price of an early Mk VI. It plays very well, and has a modern feel, ergonomically, but if you want a Pierret which can beat a Mk VI you need to go back to the 1920's/'30's for a Modele 6 or 7 or a Vibrator or a Virtuor. These machines have a tone that I have never heard equalled.

[sax-ony]

A bit late to be resurrecting this thread, I know, but I thought I'd add a bit of info. for the benefit of those using the forum search button for research on Pierrets. The Pierret Competition alto photos on the Saxpics site are taken from an Ebay auction which, as it happens, I won. The alto has recently come back from my repair man after a full overhaul and I am delighted with it. I do not have a Selmer to compare it with, but my repairer tells me it plays as well as any alto he has worked on in a 25-year career. (This includes all the usual benchmarks - MK VIs, SBAs, etc.)

[Farina_man]

Nice to see someone else has gone to the trouble of resurrecting another of these fine Pierrets. I hope you get as much pleasure out of playing it as I have out of my Pierrets.